Almost There: Cate Blanchett in "The Talented Mr. Ripley"
Thursday, December 23, 2021 at 12:45AM 
Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley is now in theaters, bringing Cate Blanchett back to the big screen where she belongs. Playing a manipulative psychologist who proves herself a femme fatale, the Australian actress is sure to bring glamour to the part, dazzling audiences as she's been doing for decades. To commemorate the occasion, this week's Almost There entry revisits one of Cate Blanchett's best performances. In fact. It might be her greatest. In any case, it's my favorite from her sterling filmography, a supporting part she injects with life and patrician heartbreak. The Academy ignored her in 1999, but Blanchett may have come close to a second nomination for her work as Meredith Logue in Anthony Minghella's adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley…
What is it about Cate Blanchett and Patricia Highsmith that makes them such a stellar combination? Maybe it's the sense of strong emotions behind a glass barrier. Perhaps it's the theatricality of midcentury mannerisms. Whatever the case may be, Blanchett has never been better than when bringing that author's novels to the silver screen. Unlike Carol Aird, Meredith Logue wasn't a Highsmith invention. Instead, she was written by Minghella specifically for what he called a Blanchett-type. When the Australian accepted to be part of the film, going from Queen Elizabeth to a supporting role, the delighted director expanded the character further.
Before she becomes vital to the plot, the first glimpse at Meredith helps explain this fascination. From the moment she appears, a gauzy silhouette behind Tom Ripley, the camera is in love with Cate Blanchett and, by consequence, the gauche young heiress on her first trip to Europe. Traveling alone in a strange country, Meredith looks desperate to find a fellow American, looking around, searching. The titular Ripley is the master observer in the narrative, passing for other people, infiltrating the lives of the wealthy, going from underachiever to playboy. Even so, every time he encounters Meredith, she's watching him before he notices her. It's she who starts the conversation, vibrating with the need for companionship, though her attempts at striking connection feel clumsy.
That's what is so disarming about Meredith, as portrayed by Blanchett. Trying to talk about her extensive luggage as a way to find kinship in another member of her social strata, one becomes aware of how gauche Miss Logue can be. She's nervous and unwittingly callous, uncomfortably ingratiating. Yet, there's an openness that makes her hard to resist, a naïveté that smooths over the rough edges and makes them endearing, sweet. Underlining these aspects, Blanchett plays the introduction as a flustered schoolgirl enamored by the sight of a never-handsomer Matt Damon. Pretending to be Dickie Greenleaf, Ripley brushes her off with little thought, but her presence persists in the viewer's mind. The next time we see her much has changed.
After nearly an hour, after Tom has killed Dickie and assumed his identity, our pernicious anti-hero runs into her again in Rome. More accurately, he's shopping for Gucci goods when she spots him through the window. Meredith quickly pounces on the demon twink like the thirsty gal she is, all smiles and guilelessness. Believing she's talking to an eligible Dickie Greenleaf, Meredith is painfully sincere when talking about herself, trying to forge complicity, maybe more. She confesses to being the kind of rich girl who claims to despise her wealth but couldn't possibly imagine living without it. If you had money your entire life, you're only comfortable around other people who have it. Unlike the real Dickie, the thoughtless Meredith can spout such elitist musings without a trace of bite, of cruelty.
Tom plays the woman like a fiddle, getting her to fall in love with him in no time. Of course, neither Damon nor Blanchett make it seem that hard, not when the heiress is so keen and flustered, so girlish in her naked want. There's that mask of sophistication she always wears along with that coiffed blonde perfection so dramatically flicked off the face. Nevertheless, the mask is transparent, hiding nothing. In a carriage lit by the Roman moon, the mask is nowhere to be seen. She looks so young and innocent, an American princess whose heart is about to be broken by the prince. Still, you should always save heartbreak for daylight, and so they depart with sad smiles and little resolution, setting the stage for Blanchett's most glorious scene. It happens when Meredith meets Gwyneth Paltrow's Marge in a café by the Spanish steps.
Suddenly, it all comes crashing down for the lovesick rich girl, all according to Ripley's plan. Thinking they're there to meet different people, both women come out of it believing Dickie has been entertaining himself with Meredith while still in love with his former girlfriend. In a storm of embarrassment, the Logue heiress makes excuses and proceeds to leave, convinced she's been part of a love triangle that's not going to resolve itself in her favor. It's a spectacle of shame that's trying to go unnoticed, covered by a red smile and stylish sunglasses. She doesn't convince, her pain too obvious, too latent. Meredith can't hide her feelings well, a constant throughout Blanchett's perfect performance, from the arrival in Italy to the moment she reencounters Tom at the end and unknowingly signs poor Jack Davenport's death sentence. Even then, the tale of fear melting into romance is plain to see, beautifully transparent.
Amid the perversities of Dickie and Tom, the Italian taste for epicurean curiosity, Meredith sticks out like a sore thumb. She's indefatigably American and unwaveringly un-mysterious, no matter how much she tries to transcend those aspects of herself. So much of the performance lives and dies in those failures of social performance. Her gestures are exaggerated and read as overeager even when she's trying to project the cool disinterest of a European seductress. Never natural, she's also never distant in that way Tom can be when separating interior life from the game of shiny surfaces, illusions. However, that doesn't mean Meredith isn't genuine or ever rings false. That's the tragedy of her presence, unable to embody sincerity while being vulnerable at each and every moment.
Coming off an awards season that saw many people declare her a robbed queen, Cate Blanchett got some love for her work in The Talented Mr. Ripley. Indeed, BAFTA nominated her for Best Supporting Actress. As for the movie, it earned five Academy Award nominations, though none for the Australian goddess. Instead, the Oscar nominees were Toni Collette in The Sixth Sense, Angelina Jolie in Girl, Interrupted, Catherine Keener in Being John Malkovich, Samantha Morton in Sweet and Lowdown, and Chloë Sevigny in Boys Don't Cry. 1999 was a bloodbath for this category, with many mighty contenders being snubbed. In the end, Jolie was victorious, while Blanchett would have to wait until 2004 for her first Best Supporting Actress nod and, eventually, a win. As far as I'm concerned, Blanchett should have won that little golden guy for the fabulous Meredith Logue.
The Talented Mr. Ripley is streaming on Paramount Plus. You can also rent it on several services.
Reader Comments (24)
Perfect movie.
Matt Damon at his most handsome indeed,
and Blanchett!!! Also at her peak beauty that is still going on of course. She can play the ingenue up until now with that face.
And coming off Being the Ricardos, although Kidman is fantastic, I still wonder what Cate's version of Lucille can be.
Claudio, great article as always! Blanchett is stunning here, absolute perfection as is EVERY actor in this movie. It's one of the best films of the 90s, ridiculously overlooked by Oscar. Blanchett is as good or better than all of the nominated actresses that year. And the movie...you beautifully say "a tale of fear melting into romance" when of course it is just as easily a tale of romance melting into fear.
Great read, Cláudio, and a great performance. I started falling in love with CB's work around this time. Although I must say, I think Paltrow was (or should have been) closer to a nomination than Blanchett. What she does in this film is phenomenal—one of the best acting-as-reacting, in the moment, almost tragic performances of that era, and always criminally underrated. But the film wouldn't work without it.
I like Blanchett in this she's such a specific actress at giving you what you need to know about a character from glances and body language and thought I disagree with the Claudio about her winning as far as i'm concerned Paltrow is the standout in the cast but every role is filled with perfection from Damon to Davenport.
Blanchett is indeed great here, but Paltrow is even better. SHE should have snagged a Supporting Actress nomination easily, and 1999 was a stellar year in this category, but Paltrow was that good.
Blanchett is excellent — I love how she plays the foolish/unaware naif with a very fine blink-and-you-miss-it undercurrent of sadness and caution. But this is probably one of the most stacked Support Actress categories in my lifetime of Oscarwatching in one of the best film years ever. I don’t think I’d even have room for Jolie. My 5:
Keener, Being John Malkovich (winner)
Diaz, Being John Malkovich
Collette, Sixth Sense
Moore, Magnolia
Sevigny, Boys Don’t Cry
Fadhil -- I agree with everything you said.
EricB -- Thank you! It is a brilliant film. One I've revisited so many times I could probably write an Over & Overs about it.
Working stiff, MrRipley79, and Drew -- I prefer Blanchett, but I think Paltrow's great too.
Paranoid Android -- 1999 Best Supporting Actress was such a bloodbath that AMPAS might as well have nominated twenty performances there and just ignored the other categories. I mean...
Blanchett + Paltrow, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY
Collette, THE SIXTH SENSE
Sevigny, BOYS DON'T CRY
Diaz + Keener, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
Moore + Grace, MAGNOLIA
Bonham Carter, FIGHT CLUB
Henderson + Manville, TOPSY-TURVY
Paredes + San Juan, ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER
Janney, AMERICAN BEAUTY
Kidman, EYES WIDE SHUT
Sorvino, SUMMER OF SAM
Lange, TITUS
Swinton, THE WAR ZONE
Campbell, ELECTION
Murphy, GIRL INTERRUPTED
The women of COOKIE'S FORTUNE
It's an embarrassment of riches.
From what I remember there may have been a reluctance to honor this film at the time. Minghella, Damon, and Paltrow had all just won Oscars, and while Blanchett was only nominated, it was clearly a set up for a long career to come. If I recall correctly, all the ladies who were nominated all received their first nominations. Maybe they really just wanted new blood and not recycle people who just had a moment in the sun. That might explain why only Law was nominated (also his first nomination) and Minghella didn't get anything for director or producing.
This still stands as my #1 if the year, and wins Picture, Director, Screenplay, Sup. Actor, Cinematography, Production Design, Costume Design and Score from me. It's a brilliant piece of filmmaking.
NOW...as far as Sup. Actress is concerned...yeah, blood bath indeed. Sevigny is my hands down winner always, and one of my favorite supporting turns of all time, but the rest of my ballot changes all the time. Keener is probably my #2, but Kidman, Bonham Carter, Diaz, Paltrow, Jolie, Henderson, and Collette are fighting constantly for slots.
Today:
1) Sevigny
2) Keener
3) Paltrow
4) Kidman
5) Henderson
But I'm already itching to move in Diaz...
You left off Samantha Morton for Sweet and Lowdown (she had my vote) and Melora Walters for Magnolia. Also my favorite Julianne Moore performance of that year for A Map of the World.
One of Cate Blanchett's best performances and Anthony Minghella's best movie.
I continue to think that Blanchett's best leading performance is Jasmine in Blue Jasmine.
When it comes to supporting performances I'd go with the ones I've cared so much about, that I've rewatched:
- Galadriel, The Fellowship of the Ring (extended edition) - I literally YouTube the "gifts of Galadriel" scene when I feel sad.
- Cate VS Shelly, Coffee & Cigarettes - genius and absolutely hilarious
- Meredith Logue, The Talented Mr. Ripley
- Marissa Weiegler, Hanna - her best bitch
I don't remember a single scene of Paltrow's (except for the scene she shares with Blanchett) in The Talented Mr. Ripley, she's that forgettable.
More than the failure to recognize The Talented Mr. Ripley, the real headscratcher in 1999 was the AMPAS enthusiasm for the pedestrian Best Picture nominee The Cider House Rules. I don't remember folks placing the film in the mix beyond Michael Caine's performance (though there was a SAG nod for ensemble).
echoing the 'embarrassment of riches for 1999 supporting actress. I actually dont think Blanchett was anywhere close to a nom that year.
I think voting with Oscar went like so...
1. Angelina Jolie - Girl, Interrupted (an absolute lock at the time -people were obsessed)
2. Catherine Keener - Being John Malkovich (precursor favourite)
3. Samantha Morton-Sweet and Lowdown (precursor favourite)
4. Chloë Sevigny - Boys Don't Cry. (precursor favourite)
5. Toni Collette -Sixth Sense (now beloved, then the "surprise" of the nominations, knocking out either Diaz and Moore who both had considerable momentum)
just missed
6. Cameron Diaz - Being John Malkovich (BAFTA-Globe-SAG nominations)
7. Julianne Moore - Magnolia (SAG nomination, hot off of Boogie Nights)
beyond that anyone's guess though there were likely votes all over the place given the absurd riches. My best guess is that those seven up top were WAY out fonrt and then there was a mess of votes going every which way but based on enthusiasms of the time i'd say it was probably like... oh... wild guess... a smattering of votes here and there for...
Mena Suvari - American Beauty (BAFTA nominee)
Sissy Spacek - The Straight Story
Cate Blanchett - Talented Mr Ripley (BAFTA nominee... but like TOMG said there was a sstrange reluctance about Ripley at the time.)
Jessica Lange - Titus
Lesley Manville - Topsy Turvy
Thora Birch - American Beauty (BAFTA nominee)
Helena Bonham Carter - Fight Club
i doubt anyone else registered with the Academy (especially those in more international or arthouse films -it was a pretty mainstream year for Oscar) even though some of them were great.
"I don't remember a single scene of Paltrow's (except for the scene she shares with Blanchett) in The Talented Mr. Ripley, she's that forgettable."
The Dickie's rings scene
The Marge let me hold you scene
The monologue outside Tom's door
Her warmth when first meeting Tom
The way she looks at Law with affection and love
"I know it was you"
The confusion at the cafe,her aloofness with Meredith
I found her utterly unforgettable such a tragic figure,the audience surrogate in a way,you sort of want Tom to be found out to ease Marge's pain
Paltrow is underrated due probably to her 98 win.
I would have given it Best Picture,Director,Ad Screenplay,Supporting Actress and maybe Best Actor.
Diaz,Paltrow,Moore,Collette and Jean Smart for Guinevere.
Thank you, MrRipley79.
Great write up! This is maybe my favorite Blanchett performance. She's just sensational.
This was, very arguably, my favorite film in that bountiful year 1999 (May we have more of those!)
I remember leaving the theater wanting to visit a travel agent (!) to purchase a flight to Italy right away. And I've since been to Positano and seen that apartment from the Beach.
I'd put both ladies in there. It's just a magnificent, sumptuous picture. I wish we had gotten a follow up. Rest in Peace, Mr. Minghella.
Blanchett is quite good, but the movie didn't need her. And the screenplay has a major flaw. Ripley should never keep her alive. She was the only witness that could identify him as Dickie, that was supposed to be already dead (by suicide).
not sure if she was that close to the Oscar nod, i think Cameron Diaz (GG, SAG, BAFTA) and Julianne Moore (SAG) were ahead of her, probably even Paltrow (her post-Oscar role, good reviews, baity role, the IT girl of the moment) had more advantage
Put me in the Gwyneth Paltrow camp. The ""Why do you have Dickie's rings" scene is still the one that haunts me to this day.
I have to admit, also, this isn't one of my favorite Blanchett performances - though as usual, Claudio, you make the most compelling case possible for me to reassess! I think my problem may be less with Blanchett and more with the writing of her character - Meredith comes across as *so* guileless and awkward, and so obviously a device to thicken the plot (and Tom's moral dilemma), I never quite bought her as a real person.
I love this film so much, it's a masterclass in acting & direction. 1999 was such a terrific year for films and performances ( I can't recall a year with so many amazing soon to be iconic films released). My personal Supporting Actress list hasn't changed though, it would've been: - Helena Bonham Carter (Fight Club) Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense) Cameron Diaz (Being John Malkovich) Angelina Jolie (Girl, Interrupted- Winner) Sharon Stone (Simpatico)
I find Angelina Jolie kind of annoying. She seems to rely on what I call her "ice queen mugging". I don't remember her being especially great in "Gilrl, Interrupted". But more importantly, I need to re-watch The Talented Mr. Ripley. I remember being totally seduced by Matt Damon's performance. And how sad that he has not gotten more of this kind of part. Or maybe he has and I missed it.
Jude Law gives the performance most memorable for me.
This is probably my favorite Blanchett's performance. Sometimes I find her acting a bit artificial but somehow I found her cluelessness in this movie endearing.
She is unnecessary plot device; like a stranger peeking in the world she doesn't belong but i like the charisma she brings to this character.